Prohibition of Insulting Others Religions in Shia Jurisprudence

Insulting or disrespecting other religions and their sacred figures and places is a broad and significant subject in Shi‘a jurisprudence. The question often arises as to whether insulting sanctities is legally prohibited or not. Using the Qur’an and hadith as sources, this article—an abridged transcript  of Ayatollāh Muhammad Jawad Fadil Lankarani’s lecture—clarifies the meaning of insult, and covers the consensus in Shi‘a jurisprudence with regards to the prohibition of insult to divine hurumāt (sanctities), that is, God, angels, prophets, the Qur’an, divine books, mosques, temples, and shrines.

The issue of insult is an important and broad one in Shi‘a jurisprudence. There are discussions about insult in various categories, such as insult to a believer, a jurisprudent, holy places, Ka‘bah, Mecca, our leader’s holy shrines, our other sanctities, even the turbah of Imam Husayn in Shi‘a jurisprudence. Often there are two questions posed on these issues: Is it prohibited (haram) to insult hurumat and the sanctities or not? And according to some jurisprudents, is it obligatory to venerate the Divine rites or not?

Bibliographic Information

Title: Legal Prohibition of Insulting Other Religions and their Sacred Figures and Places in Shi’a Jurisprudence

Authors: Ayatollah Muhammad Jawad Fadil Lankarani

Translator: Mahboobeh Morshedian

Published in: Message of Thaqalayn, Summer 2018, Vol. 18, No. 4

 Language: English

Length: 7 pages

Legal Prohibition of Insulting Other Religions and their Sacred Figures and Places in Shi’a Jurisprudence